Playlists

Echoes of Prokofiev and Shostakovich; sounds of Soviet composers. Khatchaturian was advised by Prokofiev on his Concerto, and both Galynin and Ustvolskaya were students of Shostakovich, though the latter seems to have learned a lot from the two of them as well. Little is known about Galynin (the fate of many a composer under the iron fist of Stalin); to Ustvolskaya, Shostakovich wrote, "it is not you who are influenced by me; rather, it is I who am influenced by you." A labyrinth of influences!